Labour Declaration of Farage as ‘Real Opposition’ Was Starmer’s Idea – Guido Fawkes

Labour Declaration of Farage as ‘Real Opposition’ Was Starmer’s Idea

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A snippet of inside briefing given to the FT yesterday confirms that it was Starmer’s own idea to present Farage and his four MPs as the ‘real opposition.’ A choice that has caused consternation inside Labour…

“Starmer disclosed his plan to tackle Farage head-on in a text message last month to Morgan McSweeney, his chief of staff, after learning the Reform leader was planning a bold pitch for Labour votes in a speech on May 27.

Two days after Farage’s démarche — in which the Reform leader vowed to be the champion of “working people” — Starmer declared in a speech in St Helens that the new choice for voters was between Labour and the “fantasy economics” of Reform.”

Co-conspirators may remember May’s bizarre St Helens speech in which Starmer obsessively attacked Farage and was then humiliated by successive journalists’ questions. It was quite the show…

FT readers now know that the pivot and accompanying stunt wasn’t the idea of Downing Street Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney – known by top insiders as “the McIavelli.” A camp inside Labour thought it wiser to leave the Reform attacks to the large army of Labour backbenchers who are at the party’s beck and call anyway…

Downing Street is briefing that the PM will “step up the attacks in coming weeks” by attacking Farage’s council DOGE units and anti-net zero policies. Reform may see that as more of a gift…